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tv   Democracy Now  WHUT  December 6, 2012 6:00pm-7:00pm EST

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of qatar. >> the that the state is not the only country that is a blocking but they carry is currently the largest emitter in the world, and they carry a particular responsibility and has to show particular leadership which they are absolutely failing to do and we are totally unimpressed with the talks. it is too little, too late. >> we are running out of time. that is the message that kumi naidoo of greenpeace international has sent to president obama, as the united states comes under increasing criticism. we will speak to kumi naidoo and samantha smith, as well as a panel of youth climate activists. first, to egypt. >> we hold president morsi and the government completely responsible for the violence happening in egypt today. what is happening at the presidential palace at the moment, the violence, without
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the protection of the country, is an announcement from the country and president that they do not hold their responsibility to protect the country. >> the egyptian army has deployed tanks outside of the presidential palace in cairo and six people have died in clashes between supporters and opponents of president morsi. we will speak to sharif abdel kouddous. >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from doha, qatar. egyptian forces have deployed outside a cairo after violent clashes between pro and anti- government demonstrators left six people dead and more than 400 injured. the violence marked a major escalation in the dispute over
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mohamed mursi's effort to hold a referendum on a new constitution later this month shortly after he asserted wide-ranging powers. fighting continues today with supporters and opponents clashing in the streets of cairo. on wednesday, opposition leader mohamad held there by blamed the morsi government for the violence p.m. we hold president morsi and his government but irresponsible for the violence that is happening in egypt today. what is happening at the presidential palace at the moment, without the protection of the country, is an announcement from the country and the president that they do not hold their responsibility to protect the country. >> in a bid to calm the unrest, the vice president mahmoud mekky has considered adding a n amendment to the
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constitution. the death toll from the massive typhoon in the philippines has now topped 310 people with hundreds more missing. typhoon bopha is the most southerly typhoon to ever hit the pacific. 200,000 people have also been displaced after winds and flooding destroyed or heavily damaged their homes. at least three people have been killed in a u.s. drone strike in the pakistani region of north waziristan. the attack targeted a home with a pair of missiles. pakistani intelligence says the victims were suspected militants. the syrian government is accusing western leaders of drumming up support for foreign military intervention by invoking a month on fears of chemical weapons. this week, president obama warned president bashar al-assad against chemical weapons, about an unspecified consequences. speaking to leaders in brussels, hillary clinton followed suit.
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>> our concerns are that an increasingly desperate assad regime may turn to chemical weapons, or may lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within syria. so as part of the absolute unity we have on this issue, we have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line. those responsible would be held to account. >> in response to the threat, assad's regime has assisted it will not use chemical weapons against its own people, calling an assertion to the contrary to a pretext for intervention. >timothy geithner is says the obama administration is prepared to see the u.s. go over the limit fiscal cliff rather than cave to republican demands for a continued tax break for the wealthiest americans.
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he made the statement in an interview with cnbc. >> i want to understand the administration's position on raising taxes for the wealthy, those making more than $250,000. if republicans and not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> absolutely. there is no room for an agreement that the not involve the rates going up for the top 2%. >> speaking to a roundtable of corporate executives in washington, president obama said republicans' aid to examine the reality that tax rates will rise for the wealthiest americans. >> we have seen some movement in the last several days with some republicans. there has been a recognition that, maybe, they can accept some rate increases as long as is combined with a serious impediment reform and additional spending cuts. and if we can get the leadership
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on the republican side to take that kramer, to acknowledge that reality, then the numbers are actually not that far apart. another way of putting this is, we could probably solve this in about one week. it is not that tough. >> new details have been revealed in the retail giant kermit factory where 120 dacre workers died in a fire last month. "the new york times" is reporting that wal-mart played a key role in blocking the improvement of safety features at the bangladeshi factory. one representative helped quash a proposal that would help to improve safety investments, calling them not financially feasible. documents found at the fire scene also show five of the factory's 14 production lines
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were -- devoted to making wal- mart apparel. meanwhile in the u.s., walmart is drawing criticism for planning to reduce health care to those employees working less than 30 hours a week. an internal company policy shows newly employed part-time workers will no longer receive benefits, while those hired in or after 2011 will also lose out if their hours dip below 30 hours a week. labor experts say walmart is following other large employers in exploiting obamacare by shifting the cost of health care onto taxpayers. walmart refused to comment about how many loses would -- workers would lose coverage but instead decided to no longer answer questions from the huffington post, which they accused of biased coverage. the white house is planning to ask congress for around $50 billion to aid states ravaged by
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superstorm sandy. a partisan battle could ensue over the request. it falls short of the combined $82 billion sought for rebuilding efforts in new york, new jersey, and connecticut. a new federal study has found that the practice known as fracking can cause earthquakes. oil and gas operations caused the majority if not all earthquakes in certain areas of new mexico and colorado between 2001 and 2011. the report's co-author called fracking is as high risk that we need to be considering. washington state put into effect two news laws today with major national significance. as of midnight, possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana is now legal in washington state, following the approval of a state ballot initiative last month.
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in enacting the measure, washington is the first state to decriminalize recreational marijuana use and the first to do so anywhere by popular vote. meanwhile, same-sex marriage is also now legal in washington as of midnight after also having been approved by voters on election day one month ago. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from doha, qatar, but we begin in egypt, where six people are dead and hundreds are wounded following overnight clashes between opponents and supporters of mohamed mursi. tanks were deployed over the presidential palace today amidst ongoing scuffles. the violence marks the culmination of two weeks of protest after president morsi issued a decree granting themselves sweeping and unchecked powers last month. his critics have also objected to a draft constitution passed
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by an islamist-dominated panel said one for referendum next week. . former arab league secretary- general amr moussa spoke on wednesday. >> here, in your presence, we are one hand, speaking in one voice in defense of egypt and the continuation of the revolution. today, tomorrow, and for all time, egyptian forces should be raised high as we are for a new and democratic nation, and not for the status quo or for the division of the egyptian people or the imposition of an unacceptable constitution p.m. the clashes marked the largest confrontation did in rival groups since the uprising that ousted hosni mubarak two years ago. fighting erupted on wednesday when supporters of morsi this but -- descended on a protest
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near the palace, chasing opponents. the two sides battled with molotov cocktails and rocks with government supporters using tear gas. clashes spread through the country with muslim brotherhood offices set aflame in other cities. in the latest developments, the top is on the body has called on morsi to suspend his controversial decree. meanwhile, authorities have reportedly set a deadline that expired just minutes ago four demonstrators to leave the area outside the presidential palace. to talk more about the latest news, we are joined by democracy now! correspondent sharif abdel kouddous. can you explain what is happening right now in the streets? >> the presidential guard has deployed at least a dozen tanks around presidential palace just
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a few miles from where i am in tahrir square. there are reports that marches are being planned, protesters who are against mohamed mursi, his constitutional decree, heading to the presidential palace despite a statement by the presidential guard to clear the area and not allow protesters there. what happened last night was a major escalation of this crisis that began two weeks ago with morsi's constitutional decree. we saw thousands of muslim brotherhood members and their allies, the ultra-conservative groups, descend on the presidential palace where there were a few hundred anti-morsi protesters. i spoke to many people who were there when the brotherhood came.
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they said they came in, tore down the tents, kicked people, attack and beat several people. the response to that was people coming to the presidential palace, and this escalated into massive clashes that lasted for hours, with rocks, molotov cocktails. you could hear shots. i saw people injured bird shot. as you mentioned, six people killed, over 600 injured. many are laying the blame for this violence at the foot of president mohamed mursi and the muslim brotherhood. what we have seen since the declaration came down on november 22 by mohamed mursi, which granted him an czech authorities beyond the reach of the judiciary, has only been an escalation in the political crisis, and that has manifested
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itself so wildly in the streets of cairo. in the wake of this declaration by morsi, we saw some of the biggest protests in the streets in tahrir square. the response from the muslim brotherhood was to double down on their strategy and force the transition. they called the constituent assembly, which is drafting the constitution, for a hastily- called " where they passed in a 17-hour session the constitution for the country in a self-congratulatory tone, and near unanimous on all of the amendments. criticism has come from rights advocates and others for being restrictive of certain rights. it was really the process by which it was done. it reminded people of the mubarak era, this tactic of
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ramming through legislation, and the response by the opposition was to escalate their protests. on tuesday, we saw an unprecedented march to the presidential palace where tens of thousands of protestors descended on the palace, the biggest of its kind, to reach the palace walls. there were police who had set up barricades blocking people from reaching the palace. they fired some tear gas, some brief clashes, but they were overwhelmed by the sheer size of the protest, and they surrounded the presidential walls, chanting against morsi. the chants have escalated as well, calling for more sickest of down, calling for the fall of the regime. the same kind of language we heard in the ousting of hosni mubarak. they sprayed graffiti all over
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the presidential wallace, mocking the president. morsi was forced to leave, leaving in his motorcade, surrounded by security. a few hundred protesters came back the next day and had this sit-in. when the brother had announced that they would hold a protest at the palace, the prospect of violence would -- was very high. many are blaming the muslim brotherhood for calling for protests at the palace of the same time that their opponents were there, at this very tense moment, and using very aggressive language. the brotherhood spokesperson called for demonstrations to protect the legitimacy after the group infringements by a group that he said thought could impose its legitimacy by force. we saw on the freedom justice party side that they were not clashes between supporters and
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opponents of the president, but skirmishes between the guardians of legitimacy and the revolution against counter-revolutionary attempts to topple legitimacy. this kind of language and behavior resulted in these massive clashes. people are heading to the presidential palace again. it is unclear where all this is going but the political crisis that egypt finds itself in is one of the most severe since the revolution began. >> sharif, i heard a rumor here in doha, the possibility of muhammed morsi and the prime minister going to another location. >>
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i would be surprised if morsi decided to leave egypt for any reason. there is a very deep political crisis that he is going through. three of his advisers resigned last night, holding morsi responsible for the violence -- at least three of them resigned. that adds to 3 that resigned in the wake of the decree. these advisers are people that he selected, were supposed to be the people around him, but it is very clear that these are not the real people he is listening to. the person selected to be his and by the for the democratic transition was not even told about the constitutional decree before and, and he resigned. morsi is clearly getting his advice from other people, presumably the leading members of the muslim brotherhood.
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as it stands, they are pressing forward with this referendum that morsi has called for on december 15. the muslim brotherhood is saying, we are a lot for the democratic process to take place. if there is a majority that does not approve the constitution, let them speak at the polls with their votes. however, the opposition is saying this is a false choice that is being presented to them. on the one hand, there is a choice of accepting a constitution that many members of the opposition, as well as members of the christian church, egypt's minority group, did not have a hand in passing. on the other hand, if the constitution is voted down, there has been no clear plan given. presumably, morsi would retain these unchecked and sweeping powers that he planted himself in the decree. they say that this is a false
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choice being presented to them. as well as the pure logistics of the polls appeared to be breaking down. several judges going on straight, announcing they would boycott the referendum and not for dissipate. by egyptian law, judges it to be a polling stations to oversee the votes. recently, reports that over 200 embassadors come in and this is across the world, are refusing to oversee the referendum for egyptian expatriate abroad. that was supposed to begin on saturday. this is really a deep crisis for mursi and the brotherhood, but for the country as well. seeing this kind of violence, not between police and army and citizens, but between rival groups, supporters of the islamist president, and its opponents, is very troubling.
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>> finally, a report on line, one person killed in the overnight clashes working for a local newspaper. >> i heard similar reports as well. we do not know if that has been confirmed yet. again, the clashes were very brutal, going back and forth for hours last night. there were loud bangs, lots of rocks thrown, people firing fireworks, molotov cocktails, cars were burned down. and yet, the country is still toting for mohamed mursorsi make a statement. he has not responded since
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saturday. the prospects of holding a referendum, or its legitimacy have been seriously and called into question. the future of this transition, the future of the presidency -- the official demand was for msrsi -- morsi to postpone the referendum and perhaps form a new constituent assembly. now the calls are growing for him to step down. we are hearing the same kind of language that we heard from protesters during mubarak's at posting. we will have to see where it goes in the next few days and weeks. >> sharif abdel kouddous, thank you for being with us. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, we turn to the un climate change summit that is taking place in doha, in
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the gulf emirate of qatar.
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>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are broadcasting from doha, qatar, the site of the 18th united nations climate change summit. most issues remain unsolved as negotiators reach a final stretch of the summit. the talks are taking place as the death toll continues to rise
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in the philippines after tuesday's typhoon. at least 477 people have died and at least a quarter million have been left homeless. for years, scientists have warned about a link between climate change and stronger typhoons. ban ki moon called for world leaders to gather in 2014 to address climate change. >> this climate change issue is not the only one related to environmental ministers. this needs political leadership, president, prime ministers, or kings coming in close consultation with member states of the detonations, i am considering convening world leaders in 2014 to mobilize the political will for a final agreement in 2015. my message today, to everyone here, is it embrace ambition in
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the negotiations and in the solutions, and let us all reap the benefits of a cleaner and more secure and more sustainable future. >> while the talks in doha to limit greenhouse gases began in 2020, many say that we cannot wait that long. >> the climate system simply cannot wait for action until after 2020. in doha, we have the opportunity to raise barr for negotiations. those without kyoto targets, developed and developing countries, must implement their changes responsibly. those who have not pledged anything yet should do so. new partnerships of those willing to accelerate beyond their pledges should be encouraged and tracked. >> we are joined by two guests
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at the qatar national convention center where they say 10,000 people have gathered over the past few days. i have to say, it seems so much smaller than the summit's over the last few years. durban is where kumi naidoo is from, executive director of greenpeace international. samantha smith is also with us, leader of the world wildlife fund global climate and energy initiative. kumi naidoo, the two of you held a news conference, along with a few others, which got some attention. you are calling on u.s. climate negotiators to step down. why? >> when president obama made
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his election victory speech, he broke his silence on climate change, what it would do to america's children. he then subsequently said that he wants to be a global leader on climate change, but the position that has been taken by the united states in these talks is business as usual, has not reflected the urgency of what has just happened in the united states through hurricane sandy, the fact that there is massive drought in many parts of the country itself, and huge climate impacts happening in a world elsewhere. the bottom line is, the politics of the negotiation is out of touch with all the science says, and president obama and other political leaders need to recognize, nature does not negotiate. we have to change. sadly, these negotiators are not reflecting that urgency and the ambition of the kind of change
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we need to see. >> i want to turn for a moment to my questioning of jonathan pershing. he was part of a news conference yesterday, along with other climate negotiators from around the world. i think the conference was called to meet the negotiators. this is what's the u.s. negotiator jonathan pershing responded. >> several civil society groups are extremely frustrated. president obama, in his first speech after elected, said that he did that want our children to live in an america that is threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. yesterday, a number of groups held a news conference, and they said at that news conference, kumi naidoo of greenpeace
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international, said todd stern and jonathan pershing have come to doha with their needles stuck in a group of obstructing the process of art. he said that it is disrespectful of president obama to inflict on us two negative negotiators and ask -- act as if the comments he made after his election were never made. he should call his delegates and tell them to follow his lead or return to washington. jonathan pershing, are you following president obama's wishes, and how you respond to civil society groups who say that the u.s. is believed an instructor to any kind of negotiation -- negotiated deal, here in doha? >> no, on the first part. on the second piece, the united states role is one of engaging actively and constructively in the discussions.
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we are one of the significant contributors to the intellectual thinking and process. we will continue to do that. it does not mean that we will agree with everything. after all, this is a negotiation. we want to work for an outcome that would be acceptable to all parties, an outcome that will be affected in the timeframe we set for ourselves to move forward. >> that is u.s. climate negotiator jonathan pershing, responding to when you set your news conference, kumi naidoo. today, you wrote an open letter to president obama. who joined you, and what did you say? >> in the letter, we are saying that he must choose to be a global climate -- and the world needs the u.s. to be a leader here. he also needs to ensure what his delegates to in the final days
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of these negotiations reflects that. the united states has been an obstructionist on a range of issues, not putting anything on the table in terms of finance. >> what do you mean in terms of finance? >> basically, the logic is -- and the bush administration accepted it years ago -- rich countries carried a bigger proportion of the historical accumulation of greenhouse gases, and therefore, should help poor countries. one, to pay back the carbon debt, but more importantly, in the self-interest of rich countries. if the big developing countries tried to grow their economies exactly how the u.s. and europe did, for example, then we are guaranteed a 6 degree world. essentially, are urging him to step up to the world that he says he wants, to be a climate champion.
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we just had a press conference where the leaders of the least developed countries, the head of the african group, and small island states, shared exactly our concerns. to be honest, their voices were breaking when they spoke to us about how desperate they are about the negotiations and are clearly putting the blame on rich countries, particularly the united states, as one of the culprits. >> samantha smith, you are a leader of wwf, the world wildlife fund. >> that is what we call it in the united states. >> the level of this conference is a c within another c. if they turn one of them around, it looks like the logo of comedy central. that is funny, but not so much in the context of this subject.
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the news you were reading about environmentalists and the dangers they face. >> as i was preparing to come to doha, i heard about comments from someone that we are the culprits for the negotiations and the way they are going. i opened the newspaper and saw a clip about a mexican environmental activist who was gunned down together with her son. i put the page and then i see a russian and environmental activist that would be in into disability. it is very easy for me, for folks in the un secretariat, to say that civil society must do more. but if we did more here in qatar, we would be arrested. the things we are a lot to do have virtually no impact peter what do you mean you would be arrested? >> they're incredibly strict rules about what kinds of active demonstration we can
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take, whether we can hand out fliers to delegates. we have been told, you have to follow these rules, or you will be ejected and maybe worse. the beer point is, outside a parallel universe of these negotiations, there is a world out there were people get locked up or worse for working on environmental issues. that is also true for people in wwf. we know we can do better, we can do more, but when we do more, we take real risks, and one should not underestimate those risks. one other thing that i thought about as i was coming here, this summer, from the united states, i was living my mother who lives in the country in virginia. it was a record warm july. my mom is old, in poor health. the area around her is an area where they grow corn. the crops looked like they were scorched. it is where i grew up, i knew what it was supposed to look like.
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this was the year where people in the u.s., too, it appears the rock this climate change. 80% of agricultural land is affected. i think we all can and should expect more, not only from the negotiators here, but from the administration. it is time to stop saying congress is holding us back and we cannot get an ambitious deal through. we have to see more leadership from the president. it is his legacy. >> as a u.s. citizen, what does the president need to do, what do his climate negotiators here need to do? >> first of all, it would be great if they stop saying that they are following the same consistent policy -- policy that they have called for the past four years. that have led us to a week deal. so much so, developing countries and other organizations gathered yesterday to say, this is unacceptable. the reality of what some people
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are facing is too far away from the delegates are about to agree on for cutting emissions. the first thing would be for the rest to explain -- for the negotiators to explain, yes, we agree to cut emissions by 17%. this is how we are or to do it. the math on that is not at all clear. the second thing for the u.s. to do would be to put forward a road map or show how it will do its fair share of the hundred billion of the u.s. to which secretary clinton committed -- she was a proponent of this at the copenhagen climate summit. if you want developing countries to transition their economies and cut emissions, and also to help citizens in the u.s., they cannot do it if they do not know where the money is coming from from year to year. they need it line of sight. >> this is president obama's second term. what does that mean to you? >> he has the chance to leave a
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huge legacy. in his first term he got health care through. that was big. now he has a second term and a majority of the american people now saying to him, we care about climate change, we saw what it did with hurricane sandy, the warmest year on record ever. it is his chance to make a mark, and at this conference, and in 2015, that his legacy was not that he presided over the failures that were copenhagen and the coming film career in 2015, but this was a time when the united states stepped forward on climate change. they must, they are the second world's -- second biggest world polluter. >> kumi naidoo, what did you want to add? >> president obama needs to understand that his legacy will not only be about climate change. in action on climate change will
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also send a message about what kind of democracy the united states is. when we look at the united states today, from the outside, we see united states as the best democracy money can buy. money, when interrogated, it is oil, coal, gas, military. leadership here must be to remind people what it is all about. it was meant to balance the wallets are rich people with the voices of ordinary people. the reality is, the policy decisions made in washington serve the interests of the polluting industries. for every member of congress, the fossil fuel industry, at minimum, three lobbyists and up to eight full-time lobbyists to ensure there is no climate legislation passing in the united states. part of the legacy is also to stand up for the voices of ordinary people. i feel it is not only in the trail of poor people in
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developing countries, not only to the people that lost their lives in new orleans, suffering from drought and so on. right now we can turn the crisis into an opportunity. either we get this right as rich and poor countries acting together, secure the climate for our children and their children's future, or if we continue to bicker and we do not show the right kind of political will, ultimately, rich and poor nations will go down. it is not that people cannot see a visual image of the fact of rich nations are also vulnerable and the power of mother nature, which is screening out at us, act now, has to be listened to. >> there were tens of thousands of people in copenhagen, many in cancun and durban. you lead a major protests in the streets. where are they in doha?
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is that why the summit came here to doha? i remember after the ballot -- battle in seattle, hundreds of people were arrested, mass protests in the streets. the next big meetings were in doha -- trade meetings -- in doha. very expensive for people to get to, and also they knew that dissent was not welcome. today, we are not far from a central prison where a poet has been sentenced to life in prison for a poem that inspired by the arab spring. >> that is a question that should be put squarely at the united nations secretariats, because they play a role in facilitating the decision. it is unfortunate that we are in this place at a time where -- especially young people -- are desperate to add their voices. you saw in past summits the
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energy and vibrancy the young people bring. it has been prohibitively expensive to get here. the numbers we can see are much less. still, as civil society, we have to be critical of ourselves at this point. we have to ask ourselves, while we are here, we do not have large numbers of people outside of the white house, outside different capitals of the world. at the end of the day, the u.n. process can be as good or as bad as the individual positions that national government bring from their different capitals to these negotiations. moving forward, one of the question we have to ask ourselves is, how much energy do we continue to put into this negotiating process, and how much energy do we put on the streets in the national capitals, in communities where people are feeling the impact already? >> how do you move from the anti-apartheid move into the anti-global warming movement?
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what was your trajectory? >> the struggle for human rights, the struggle to end the global poverty, giving the climate change, are two sides of the same coin. you can take the civil rights battle in the united states, and the right for women to vote, slavery, colonialism, if you add up all the different struggles, altogether, climate change, i would say, dwarfed them. what we are fighting for here is not the survival of the planet. the plan will survive. -- the planet will survive. we are fighting for here is the right of humanity to continue existing on this planet. in a sense, this is about securing our children and their children's future. therefore, the failure to act is a betrayal of our children's futures, a trail of history, a
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betrayal of common decency. right now, the challenge we also have to throw to the world, there are certain voices that we need to hear more loudly. we need to hear the voices of our religious leaders. every religious text that you pick up you will find some environmental gem of wisdom in it. we are working closer with a trade union movement globally now and building stronger alliances. that is important to move our agenda forward. >> samantha smith, $100 billion was announced by hillary clinton, who could run for president in the next election, in copenhagen. this caused a huge stir. where is that money right now? and compare it to new york and new jersey alone after hurricane
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sandy asking for $60 billion, to deal with one storm. >> secretary clinton was on the front foot in copenhagen. she is the one that announced its $100 billion commitment from developed countries. we're here from the u.s. is, we put some money on the table to start things up but we cannot tell you when the rest of the money is coming and how much it will be. it is easy to say that it is all about the budget process, so let us remind ourselves, during the financial crisis, the money to save the banks was very quickly forthcoming. depending on who you ask it was either $700 billion or $12 trillion. that just shows when you have the political will, you could find the money. what we would like to see from the united states, he will let them to be a leader on that finance. it is not about giving a present to poor countries. it is insurance for people living in the united states, that we are going to help the
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world. we are about to get a change of the state department. this is a tremendous opportunity to reset climate policy. the president is in office with a second term, has demanded on climate change. you will have a new secretary of state. you have the 2015 landmark coming up. this is a chance to have a new shop. >> susan rice has been named as a possible replacement. john kerry of massachusetts. what are their records on climate change? the big controversy around susan rice is in her investment of $600,000 in transcanada, which is the oil pipeline company building the keystone xl pipeline from the alberta tar sands to the gulf of mexico. >> which ever of them become secretary of state -- although senator kerry has certainly been active on climate change.
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we hope that the new secretary of state changes the policy that brought the u.s. to the point where it is putting an emissions reduction commission on the table here at the international negotiations without explaining how they will get to it. we hope that we will not have comments from the negotiators where they say, in 2015, we will be negotiating an agreement will apply in 2020. scientists tell us right now that every year counts. we cannot wait until 2025 to start cutting emissions. we hope that whoever is our new secretary of state, that we see a change in these policies. as long as the u.s. does with it is doing in these negotiations, other countries can easily hide behind it, and that is exactly what they're doing. >> the kyoto protocol, if one of you could explain simply -- there is so little coverage of this in the united states. this is supposed to sunset and
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there is a second commitment period. what does it mean? the u.s. did not even signed onto it. >> i will let samantha answer, but just one thing on the finance issue, if the climate was a bank, we would have saved it a long time ago >> i will try to explain this very complicated issue in an easy way. the kyoto protocol covers the co2 emissions from countries in the eu, other countries including canada. canada has said that it will not meet the commitments that it agreed to meet, that it will break its promises to reduce its emissions under the protocol. we think this is shameful and other countries and these negotiations should be calling out canada as well. under the kyoto protocol, these
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countries agreed to reduce their emissions across their economies by a certain percentage by 2012. european union is well on the way to meet its commitment. it has agreed to a second set of commitments that will last probably eight years. what is happening now, although you are going to have a second period of the protocol, you could think of it as term insurance. it goes for a period and then you have a new one. the second period, with the eu is agreeing to is its 20% cut by 2020. they are already well on track to do this. they could do this with their eyes closed. is a business as usual proposition for them. >> samantha smith, thank you for being here. kumi naidoo, executive director of greenpeace international. we will be talking about the results of this climate summit
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tomorrow. we will be back in a minute.
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>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and
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peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we continue our live broadcast from doha in the gulf emirate of qatar at the conference of parties. the u.s. and from work on climate change. we turn now to find at how young activists here are an acquittal calling for drastic action to stop climate change. they are urging the united states and other wealthy states to deeply cut their greenhouse gas emissions and compensate poorer nations for loss and damage caused by climate change weather events. we will turn to our three guests here, a roundtable of some of the young voices here. amanda nesheiwat is here, a 23- year old environmental coordinator of the city of secaucus, new jersey, who suffered flooding after hurricane sandy. she is also a member of sustained u.s. -- sustainus.
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mark cadena is also with us, an organizer with push europe. welcome to democracy now! marcos, when i saw you yesterday, you're wearing a t- shirt that said weapons of mass destruction. what was the image? >> it was a massive oil rig, calling it a weapon of mass destruction. >> talk about what you are here. >> we came here with a clear message to governments. we want developed nations to act right now on climate change. we cannot wait. there is not a decade to wait. we are also using this opportunity for capacity building back home. at the moment in brussels we have hundreds of activists getting ready for next year when the cop will be in poland, and we are working to make a real
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flesh. climate change is the biggest ever threat to mentee has faced. we need to step up together. >> amanda, you are the environmental coordinator? how old are you? >> 23. >> what does that mean, the informant coordinator? >> i work on green initiatives and i work with them merrill council on issues we can tackle in the community. we have festivals, we raise awareness about important environmental issues. >> what did superstorm sandy mean to you, did it change the way that people in new jersey and around the united states the climate change? >> absolutely. the reason i'm here is to share our story in new jersey. after the hurricane subsided, a lot of people came to me as the garment accord there to ask about climate change. but conferences are you going to, could you tell us more about it? we saw a elected officials come together and put their political differences aside, like obama
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and christie, bloomberg endorsed obama. we saw a lot of changes in the reality, especially in new jersey. >> angeline, talk about what the environment means in haiti. >> the environment means a lot. haiti is a country that has been hit by seasonal climate events almost every year. weather events and hurricanes have severely affected the country. every year, thousands of people are dying. many have been displaced. many others are still homeless.
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as a youth, it is my responsibility to take part in these activities, to do something about it. i would like to see climate justice. >> what the climate justice mean to you? >> for me, eradication of poverty. that means developed countries need to take responsibility by fulfilling -- by providing finance, which is key for countries like haiti. >> marco, what the climate justice mean to you? >> all of that, including the fact that currently, emissions in the atmosphere, 75% are coming from developed countries , countries that have done everything for over a century and now they're trying to place
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the burden on developed countries -- developing countries who barely have enough to eat. we have a severe injustice here that we need to act on. climate justice, in a nutshell, means producing and directing poverty by allowing poor countries to develop cleanly and sustainably, and opening up technology, finance, and getting developed countries to reduce their emissions as fast as possible. >> i want to thank you all for being with us. that does it for our show today. we will be back here tomorrow. amanda nesheiwat, angeline annesteus, and marco cadena. earlier, we made a mistake misidentifying abdullah bin hamad al-attiyah as fahad bin mohammed al attiyah.
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tavis: good evening. smiley. -- from los angeles, em tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with 14- time grammy winner alicia keys. "girl on fire" features many artists, including john legend and bruno mars. our conversation with alicia keys starts right now. keys starts right now.